"It's the end, the end of the century"
29/04/00 Supergrass at the Sam Goody store at 8th & 6th, New York City.
They were playing at the Bowery Ballroom that evening, but I couldn't get a ticket. But I went along to this in-store acoustic set. They did about four songs, and I don't remember what most of them were -- presumably stuff from the new album -- but I know that they played 'Caught By The Fuzz', and it sounded as good as ever. And then they signed the album, and I also came away with a stick of Supergrass rock. Like the sticks of rock you'd get at the seaside, but bearing the motto "Supergrass rock" -- which was pretty much the truth. I still have it somewhere, but (although I guess sugar doesn't really go off in the way that some things do) I don't think I'll be eating it.
25/05/00 Hefner at Borders Bookshop, Oxford Street London.
Another in-store performance, in amongst the books. I have a few photos from it. I was back in the UK during May for job interviews.
25/06/00 Ian Brown at the Bowery Ballroom, New York City.
He had a stripped-down band, and consequently it wasn't as enjoyable as his V98 set. No percussion solos. And then I had a disappointing journey home. The main railway line didn't actually go to Princeton itself, and there was a two-carriage shuttle train to cover the four miles or so between the town and the closest point on the mainline; only that stopped running earlier at night than the big trains did. So, although I was able to get a train as far as Princeton Junction, I was too late for the shuttle. But that much was all part of my plan! See, I would shortly be leaving Princeton for good, and I knew that this would be the last time I'd be making my way back from New York late at night, and I was quite looking forward to a nighttime stroll along the tracks (à la Stand By Me), peacefully communing with the countryside one last time. But the trouble was that someone else, an Iranian graduate student I'd never met before, was planning to make the same walk. He hailed me in the station carpark, and asked if he could join me, to have someone to chat to during the hour it was going to take to get into town, and I just didn't have the heart to say no. He was pleasant enough, but I'd have vastly preferred to have had that walk to myself.
18/08/00 Hefner at the Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street, London.
And yet another in-store performance. I got several CDs signed afterwards.
08/10/00 The Delgados at the Royal Festival Hall.
Introduced by none other than Mr John Peel himself. But I think I made a mistake. I was drinking in the bar while the support bands did their thing, not realising that one of them was The Incredible String Band. At least, I inferred that it had been on the basis of Peel's introduction for The Delgados: "It's been thirty years since the last time I stood on this stage to introduce The Incredible String Band, and I hope that I'm still here in another thirty years to introduce The Delgados." Well, as we know, that last bit didn't really work out: but The Delgados were sensational. And, although this isn't the sort of thing you'd usually find me saying, they did have an awesome light-show.
30/09/00 I, Ludicrous at the Bull & Gate, London.
This was a surprise. They had fallen entirely off my radar, the best part of a decade earlier, and I'd assumed they must have long since split up and moved on. But then I just happened to spy the name in a gig guide. Can it be the same I, Ludicrous? Surely not! But then, it's not very plausible that another band should have independently stumbled upon the same name. So I went along to check them out: and, sure enough, it was indeed the I, Ludicrous. Legendary stars of that all-important number 11 spot in the 1987 Festive Fifty! So, yes, a surprise, but a welcome one.
08/11/00 Daniel Johnston at The Garage, London.
He had played now and then at The Knitting Factory, but I'd never gone along. But this was his first ever UK appearance. It was all on the guitar, rather than the piano (which he can actually play): but it was great. He did comment at one point on what a pleasure it was to be performing in London, the home of the Beatles. He knew! He was just playing with us!
21/11/00 Godspeed You Black Emperor! at the Scala, London.
It was my birthday. I'm having real trouble remembering any more than that.
23/11/00 Hefner at the Electric Ballroom, London.
I think Amelia Fletcher sang with them at this one, but I could be wrong. You know, I could very easily fill out these memories quite considerably by consulting my diaries: but, having initially consulted them to produce the unannotated list of dates itself, I rather prefer the idea of going on the basis of memory alone for these annotations. The presence or absence of such memories probably speaks volumes.
01/12/00 The Gentle Waves at the Spitz, London.
See, this one I remember quite well. This was the side-project of Isobel Campbell out of Belle & Sebastian, assisted on this occasion by Stevie Jackson from the same. And I wasn't a fan: they seemed a little too wimpy and ineffectual, even by my standards. But there were highlights nevertheless. When she crouched down on the stage and whispered her way through 'The Beat Goes On', the old Sonny & Cher song, it was great (not to mention sexy!).
They were playing at the Bowery Ballroom that evening, but I couldn't get a ticket. But I went along to this in-store acoustic set. They did about four songs, and I don't remember what most of them were -- presumably stuff from the new album -- but I know that they played 'Caught By The Fuzz', and it sounded as good as ever. And then they signed the album, and I also came away with a stick of Supergrass rock. Like the sticks of rock you'd get at the seaside, but bearing the motto "Supergrass rock" -- which was pretty much the truth. I still have it somewhere, but (although I guess sugar doesn't really go off in the way that some things do) I don't think I'll be eating it.
25/05/00 Hefner at Borders Bookshop, Oxford Street London.
Another in-store performance, in amongst the books. I have a few photos from it. I was back in the UK during May for job interviews.
25/06/00 Ian Brown at the Bowery Ballroom, New York City.
He had a stripped-down band, and consequently it wasn't as enjoyable as his V98 set. No percussion solos. And then I had a disappointing journey home. The main railway line didn't actually go to Princeton itself, and there was a two-carriage shuttle train to cover the four miles or so between the town and the closest point on the mainline; only that stopped running earlier at night than the big trains did. So, although I was able to get a train as far as Princeton Junction, I was too late for the shuttle. But that much was all part of my plan! See, I would shortly be leaving Princeton for good, and I knew that this would be the last time I'd be making my way back from New York late at night, and I was quite looking forward to a nighttime stroll along the tracks (à la Stand By Me), peacefully communing with the countryside one last time. But the trouble was that someone else, an Iranian graduate student I'd never met before, was planning to make the same walk. He hailed me in the station carpark, and asked if he could join me, to have someone to chat to during the hour it was going to take to get into town, and I just didn't have the heart to say no. He was pleasant enough, but I'd have vastly preferred to have had that walk to myself.
18/08/00 Hefner at the Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street, London.
And yet another in-store performance. I got several CDs signed afterwards.
08/10/00 The Delgados at the Royal Festival Hall.
Introduced by none other than Mr John Peel himself. But I think I made a mistake. I was drinking in the bar while the support bands did their thing, not realising that one of them was The Incredible String Band. At least, I inferred that it had been on the basis of Peel's introduction for The Delgados: "It's been thirty years since the last time I stood on this stage to introduce The Incredible String Band, and I hope that I'm still here in another thirty years to introduce The Delgados." Well, as we know, that last bit didn't really work out: but The Delgados were sensational. And, although this isn't the sort of thing you'd usually find me saying, they did have an awesome light-show.
30/09/00 I, Ludicrous at the Bull & Gate, London.
This was a surprise. They had fallen entirely off my radar, the best part of a decade earlier, and I'd assumed they must have long since split up and moved on. But then I just happened to spy the name in a gig guide. Can it be the same I, Ludicrous? Surely not! But then, it's not very plausible that another band should have independently stumbled upon the same name. So I went along to check them out: and, sure enough, it was indeed the I, Ludicrous. Legendary stars of that all-important number 11 spot in the 1987 Festive Fifty! So, yes, a surprise, but a welcome one.
08/11/00 Daniel Johnston at The Garage, London.
He had played now and then at The Knitting Factory, but I'd never gone along. But this was his first ever UK appearance. It was all on the guitar, rather than the piano (which he can actually play): but it was great. He did comment at one point on what a pleasure it was to be performing in London, the home of the Beatles. He knew! He was just playing with us!
21/11/00 Godspeed You Black Emperor! at the Scala, London.
It was my birthday. I'm having real trouble remembering any more than that.
23/11/00 Hefner at the Electric Ballroom, London.
I think Amelia Fletcher sang with them at this one, but I could be wrong. You know, I could very easily fill out these memories quite considerably by consulting my diaries: but, having initially consulted them to produce the unannotated list of dates itself, I rather prefer the idea of going on the basis of memory alone for these annotations. The presence or absence of such memories probably speaks volumes.
01/12/00 The Gentle Waves at the Spitz, London.
See, this one I remember quite well. This was the side-project of Isobel Campbell out of Belle & Sebastian, assisted on this occasion by Stevie Jackson from the same. And I wasn't a fan: they seemed a little too wimpy and ineffectual, even by my standards. But there were highlights nevertheless. When she crouched down on the stage and whispered her way through 'The Beat Goes On', the old Sonny & Cher song, it was great (not to mention sexy!).